'Going Washington' a balancing act

Jun. 23, 2014

U.S. Capitol. / Getty Images/Fuse

Written by

Donovan Slack

Gannett Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Increasingly, members of Congress are stuck in the middle of a debate over time.

Spend too much in Washington and they risk being labeled insiders, accused of losing touch with their constituents and “Going Washington.”

Spend too much time at home and they miss out on the chance to develop relationships that would help them work together and overcome the gridlock on Capitol Hill.

The sweet spot, analysts and strategists say, is somewhere in the middle.

“It’s a very difficult balance, particularly the longer you’re in office, and you get more power, and you realize that a) you’re not going to have an opponent potentially, and b) it’s a pain in the ass to go back,” said Michael Goldman, a Democratic consultant who worked for former House Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill and consulted for Rep. Joe Kennedy and the late Ted Kennedy.

Of course, there are political perils. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia lost his Republican primary in a stunning upset earlier this month, in part because voters believed he spent too much time in Washington and not enough with his constituents.

Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy said he believes Cantor was too busy with leadership duties and traveling the country raising money and helping other Republicans.

“That means he’s not at home a whole lot, he’s not taking care of his district,” Duffy said on Wausau radio station WSAU during a trip home after Cantor’s defeat. “Listen, I noticed from being a congressman for 3-1/2 years, you’ve got to take care of the people that sent you there, and you’ve got to listen to them, you’ve got to be here .”

Wisconsin’s congressional delegation ranged widely in the amount of time its members spent in the Badger State in 2013, according to a Gannett Wisconsin Media I-Team analysis of congressional spending records.

The delegation’s longest-serving members, Republican Reps. Tom Petri of Fond du Lac and James Sensenbrenner of Menomonee Falls, spent the least amount of time. Petri spent roughly 35 percent of his time off from Congress in Wisconsin. Sensenbrenner spent about 60 percent. Duffy, R-Wausau, and Democratic Rep. Ron Kind of La Crosse spent the most time in the Badger State, about 85 percent of their time off.

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Tea party conservatives have been the most successful recently in defeating Republican incumbents by claiming they were spending too much time in Washington.

Before Cantor, one of the better known examples was Indiana’s Dick Lugar, wholost his Senate seat after 35 years when he was defeated by atea party challenger in the Republican primary in 2012. The challenger — who ended up losing the general election — had hammered Lugar for not living in Indiana and staying in hotels during his spare visits to the state.

But such situations actually go back decades, long beforethe rise of the tea party. Brookings Institution congressional scholar Thomas Mann points to the defeat in 1979 of Ways and Means chair Al Ullman, a Democratic congressman from Oregon. His Republican opponent won by attacking his residency in the D.C. area.

“It turned out he only had a post office box back home,” said Mann, who recently authored “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism.” “His family was in Washington.”

There was a time when buying a home in Washington and relocating your family were routine steps for newly elected members of Congress, as fundamental as learning how to get around the Capitol and cast votes.

But as jet travel has increased, more members are leaving Washington for their home states as soon as voting ends on Thursday afternoons and not returning until voting begins Monday evenings.

Wisconsin members take different approaches to splitting their lives. Petri and Sensenbrenner bought homes in the Washington area, where they raised their children. Republican Rep. Reid Ribble of Sherwood and Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Rep. Gwen Moore of Milwaukee rent apartments in Washington and maintain homes in Wisconsin.

Republican Reps. Paul Ryan of Janesville and Duffy of Wausau are part of what’s known as the “couch caucus” in Congress. They don’t have any residence in Washington, and sleep in their Capitol Hill offices instead.

That may not seem the most comfortable lifestyle, but it could help keep them comfortably in their seats, or at least safe from the threat of tea party challenges.

Because conservatives, especially emboldened by the recent defeat of Cantor, are sure to continue pressing members to spend more time in their home states.

“The more time you spend inside the Beltway, the less realistic your view of the Midwest or wherever the home districts are,” said Wisconsin-based Matt Batzel, national director of conservative group American Majority Action. “I think that’s a common theme for a lot of members of Congress.”

Correction

An earlier version of this story incorrectly characterized Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson’s residence in Washington. He bought a townhouse there.